Montebello High School students participated in a walk-out on Thursday, March 2, 2017 and walked to the Montebello Unified district office, just over a mile away. Students protested the way the district is managing its finances, and more specifically, the fact that chief business officer Ruben Rojas is still in office months after it was revealed he fabricated previous positions and a letter of recommendation in his job application. The Montebello High School students protesting were later joined by student protesters from the district’s Applied Technology Center and Schurr High School.(Photo by Walt Mancini/Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Montebello High School students participated in a walk-out on Thursday, March 2, 2017 and walked to the Montebello Unified district office, just over a mile away. Students protested the way the district is managing its finances, and more specifically, the fact that chief business officer Ruben Rojas is still in office months after it was revealed he fabricated previous positions and a letter of recommendation in his job application. The Montebello High School students protesting were later joined by student protesters from the district’s Applied Technology Center and Schurr High School.(Photo by Walt Mancini/Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Among the other issues students were angered by were school gardens — contention over the program arose when community members learned one of the two consultants the district pays for garden maintenance is the mother of school board president Lani Cupchoy.

In two separate meetings in June, the board approved a $2,000 payment, plus expenses, to Cupchoy’s mother and another consultant from the district’s general fund, as well as a $4,000 payment plus expenses to both Eva Cupchoy and John Garza, which was funded through the district’s Local Control and Accountability Plan.

The district has lauded the program, saying in a statement its gardens won a Golden Bell award from the California School Boards Association.

Another student, senior Wendy Mata, said there are many ways that money would be put to better use.

“Everybody’s walking out because students need new books, they need new computers, and they’re not providing it for us,” she said. “Obviously we’re not going to become better if we don’t have a better education and better supplies and all of that. That’s why we’re protesting.”

Students also staged the walkout to call for the ouster of Montebello Unified’s chief business officer, Ruben Rojas, who remains in office months after documents obtained by this news organization revealed he fabricated information about most of his work history. He also provided a letter of recommendation to the district that the alleged signatory said he did not write.

Former Montebello Unified employees later said the district skirted the normal hiring process to bring in Rojas.

“We’re all here because we demand the MUSD has more financial transparency,” said Jorge Salazar, a senior who organized the protest.

Salazar made fliers in the days before the protest, which he distributed to hundreds of his fellow students.

The flier said the protest was “to make sure that the district and board knows that our voices are heard, because ultimately they are here to serve the students.”

It laid out a list of grievances, including Rojas’ employment history, the recent layoffs, board president Cupchoy’s involvement in the garden program, and unnecessary facility remodeling.

The Montebello High students were later joined by student protesters from the Applied Technology Center and Schurr High School.

In a statement, the district said it was “disappointed that some special interests have encouraged our students to participate in a walkout today in a deliberate attempt to influence the Board in its discussions over a challenging budget.”

The district also said “The flier circulated among our students calling for the walkout was purposely filled with incorrect and inaccurate information.”

Montebello High Assistant Principal Benedetta Kennedy walked with students from the school to the district office and stopped traffic as students crossed the street.

She said students did not ask for permission and the school did not encourage the protest, but “It is the school’s responsibility to make sure everyone stays safe.”

Protesters were escorted along the route by Montebello district police cars. Paul Jimenez, a district police officer, was among the escorting officers, and he echoed Kennedy’s sentiment.

“There were rumors at the schools that some of the students were going to walk out of the high schools, and obviously, that came true,” he said. “We’re kind of just making sure they get down here safe, that’s all.”

Hayley Munguia covers Long Beach City Hall for the Southern California News Group. She previously worked as a data reporter for FiveThirtyEight and has written for The Week, the Jerusalem Post and the Austin American-Statesman, among other publications. She's originally from Austin, graduated from NYU and will pet a dog any chance she gets.